PAF year:

dir. MIKE JUDGE USA | 1996 | 81 mins

Beavis and Butthead, followed by the FBI horde, cross America on the way for their stolen TV.

Beavis and Butthead cruise America on a quest for a stolen TV with FBI agents behind them. Mission: Reach Washington and maybe finally get laid. The TV show Beavis and Butthead (1993–1997) became a phenomenon on MTV in the first half of the nineties. Two typical representations of American teenagers, Beavis and Butthead spend most of their time in front of their TV hailing hardrock bands like AC/DC and Metallica which was not just perceived in a positive way by audiences. The very same things which appealed to the young audience – loose behaviour, naughty teenage humour and slang language full of „F" words – was criticised by adults. They did not like the not very likeable appearance of the characters and the unpleasant sounds they produced (especially Butthead´s non-stop giggling).

Controversy also arose regarding the uncertain purpose of the tv show: was it an ironic reflection on the young generation or just a calculated product directly aimed at the target audience? Looking back we can say that the both viewpoints are true, which makes Beavis and Butthead a pretty smart and subversive piece. With quite a simply developed inner world and without a huge fan base like The Simpsons, the show still managed to regularly find a large group of viewers. It stayed on air for 4 years (1993–1997) and had two feature presentations – Beavis and Butthead Do Christmas (1995) and Beavis and Butthead Do America (1996).

There is no particular difference between the film and episodes of the show formwise. The animation is very simple and purposely seems a little bit scamped – with the exception of the desert visions scene. Visitors to PAF can compare this scene with other psychedelic scenes in the films Live Freaky Die Freaky and Fritz the Cat.

The humour is again very simple and direct but not silly – it is built on the contrast between the reasoning, main characters´ motivations and on the language used by our heroes and those around them. Many jokes use the principle of words or phrases with double meanings (e.g. the cute interview with grandma about her „scoring" in Las Vegas).

When the film comes to an end, take your time to consider who were the „normals"; the simple teenagers who just wanted their TV back and to lose their virginity or the world around them full of paranoid agents and weird couples?

Mike Judge He debuted with the short animated comedies Office Space and Inbred Jed (1991). Judge is also credited as a producer and writer of the popular tv show King of the Hill (1997-?) He also directed two features – Office Space (1999) and Idiocracy (2006)